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I listened to the full 90 minute episode of this week's MK Podquest, which was all about the Mortal Kombat/Wing Commander Academy crossover involving the Warrior King. Hearing all that Wing Commander banter made me think about the CIC's own streaming web show, All Wings Considered. Although production has been suspended due to the pandemic, all 37 episodes of LOAF and Dundradal's epic tribute to Wing Commander are still available online. That's over a hundred hours of prime WC content! Everything is available on Youtube, but a few choice selections are available below. If you missed these during their first run, you're in for a treat!

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The Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines has just released a thrilling clip of their massed band conducting a field performance of the Wing Commander Theme. It's possible that this is a recording of the same Beating Retreat performance that was released on their 2018 album, but the video was not widely available until this week. This is just a treat - don't miss it!

The TV theme Wing Commander composed by Kevin Kiner & David Arnold, arranged by WO1 Ivan Hutchinson RM and performed at Beating Retreat at Horse Guards Parade.

The UK has it right, we should dedicate less of our military spending to endless foreign wars and more of it to fantastic performances of the Wing Commander movie score.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Marlinist Colonies are recovering from a period of political infighting and inter-faction conflict.
Octavia Volkov has been voted in as the new first minister following a snap election. Her decisive action against Aaron Whyte's Neo-Marlinist movement, which led to the elimination of the NMLA's political wing, drew huge support from voters.
In a parliamentary address, First Minister Volkov said:
"We must focus on building an independent society rather than changing the Empire. In time we will evolve into the fully-fledged Marlinist Republic we have fought so hard for, and perhaps inspire our Imperial cousins to walk the path to democracy."
Marlinist factions now control all eight of their original colony systems, some of which had temporarily fallen under external governance. They have also expanded into a handful of new systems.
Prime Consul Kayode Tau, the chief ambassador of the

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

The MK Podquest is an undertaking after our own heart. They're a dedicated podcast founded to focus on the 22-episode 1998 television show Mortal Kombat Conquest. They've also branched out to other elements of the franchise, which led them to the Mortal Kombat cartoon, Defenders of the Realm. You know where this is going: the Saga of the Warrior King.

In 1996 Michael Dorn voiced a space viking that chases after an orb across the Street Fighter, Savage Dragon, Mortal Kombat and then Wing Commander Academy universes in an epic and inexplicable crossover event. The MK Podquest duo have spent the past month examining every chapter in this story, and Wing Commander is their finale event. They went in with low expectations and zero experience with the WC series, and the team was pleasantly surprised. It's their overwhelming favorite, and it's entertaining to hear them learn about and explore the WC

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

*Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Torval-Mastopolos Mining initiative in the LTT 198 system has outperformed Wreaken Construction's rival campaign.
Pilots delivered mined resources to the megaships Pride of Bitterwood and Tobias's Gift to support the competing corporations. Ultimately, it was the new subsidiary of Mastopolos Mining that received the greatest quantities.
Senator Zemina Torval provided a statement to Imperial media:
"This is an auspicious beginning for my new enterprise. I am pleased to offer rewards to my supporters at the Pride of Bitterwood in the EGM 559 system."
In addition to credits, the top 75% of Torval's supporters will be provided with an experimental mining laser and permanent permit access to LTT 198.
Constantia Torval, one of the senator's daughters, has assumed the role of director of operations with Torval-Mastopolos Mining. There has been no comment from the

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Bransfield has made a video about 10 ‘Impossible’ Game Boy Advance Ports. I don't agree with all of the points being made, but they do a really good job of shedding light on some sorely under appreciated releases (as well as non-released games). They highlight Wing Commander Prophecy Advance at the 5:44 mark. Their initial complaints are about how the story was cut down into talking head blurbs and the controls were challenging, which were unfortunately limitations of the platform. The reviewer is quite impressed at Raylight's technical accomplishments though in getting the 3D spaceflight working on the handheld. I would have pointed out that the GBA port also added four-person multiplayer, which is a very nice treat.

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st3lt3k spotted some long lost Lego ships that we're very excited to share. Somehow we missed them for a full decade since Primus posted the designs over at Brick Commander. He's got digital mockups in the traditional WC1 color scheme, but his actual builds use an artsy crimson and gray. I love that the Claw even has its "07" on the flight deck. They're certainly some of the best Lego WC capships we've ever seen!

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

The Interstellar Health Organisation has validated the Kumo Crew's claim that onionhead gamma strain, also known as 'helix', has medicinal properties.
Dr Nisha Devi, one of the IHO's senior researchers, told the media:
"We have analysed user data in the independent systems where onionhead gamma strain is on sale. Unexpectedly, the initial marketing claims that 'helix' can be used for medicinal purposes have been authenticated."
"A significant percentage of customers are believed to be using the drug for healthcare reasons rather than recreational use. Reports show that it is a successful treatment for many psychological disorders, bringing faster results than conventional neuroleptics. It may also provide effective symptomatic relief for patients with musculoskeletal conditions."
"Several research facilities are now running clinical trials on the viability of using onionhead gamma strain in

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Shadow President Felicia Winters has claimed that further systems declaring independence could severely damage the Federation.
Her statement was in response to the conflict in the Kuwembaa system, which resulted in more Federal factions seceding from the superpower. Dozens of others are now openly considering breaking away and becoming independent.
Addressing Congress, Shadow President Winters said:
"We now face the possibility of large-scale rebellion, as more citizens reject intrusion into their private lives. Unless these authoritarian surveillance laws are repealed, we risk many more factions and allies losing their trust in any Federal government."
Vice President Jerome Archer responded:
"The Proactive Detection Bureau provides increased security and decreased crime levels for all Federal systems. I deeply regret that a few have rejected its benefits, but we must concentrate on the bigger

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

And that's a wrap! It's a bit on the lighter side as far as front page updates go, we know, but we're having a great time in the party happening in #Wingnut right now and hope you are too! In prep for today's festivities, we talked with a number of talented Wing Commander fans and they have lots of fun stuff in the pipeline that just wasn't quite ready to share today. Lots of folks are still dealing with the direct impacts from the pandemic, and our thoughts continue to be with everyone on that front. But stay tuned for a great year going forward into the future. We're optimistic that we'll finally start to shake off Covid, and we'll be here to bring you the Wing Commander news along the way!

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And now it's time for our annual poll! Our history in the Wing Commander news business stretches back some 25 years, with 23 of them here at WCNews.com, and looking at all those date ranges is pretty mind boggling. How long have you been with us?

The old poll asked which ship had your favorite briefing room. The Tiger's Claw was the unsurprising winner, but the Victory came in a very strong second. All of the options managed to pull in a pretty decent minority of the votes this time around!

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This year Lacey and the kiddos made CIC-colored cupcakes!

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It's not often that we make a new piece of CIC merchandise, but birthday parties give us a good opportunity to finally pull something like this together. It only took us four or five years to make these finally happen. We'll be giving some out at the party tonight, so we wanted to share the link for anyone that might want a set. We make no money whatsoever on these or any other items. They're just presented here as a novelty for folks who want a set of their own.

The photo on the left is from a pre production batch that was testing out sizing. The actual size is depicted on the right (picture courtesy of DaveO!). The coasters are available on Zazzle here for about $25. There is a 20% off coupon code ("AUGUSTSAVING") good for this weekend that brings the price down to $20 plus shipping. And thanks again to DefianceIndustries for the graphics!

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One of the less visible - but perhaps most important - updates we have this year is a massive server upgrade. The previously dedicated hardware and connection date back to early 2014 and were starting to show their age. KrisV has been laboring nonstop over the past couple weeks to get the CIC moved over to a brand new host and system. Individual elements have been briefly brought down and restored nightly, and the disruption has probably gone unnoticed by almost everyone.

The highlights are listed below, but the net effect is that the end user capability is some ten times as powerful in the areas that count hardware-wise. The operating system side has also seen a nice boost, which supports general web browsing plus services like the Forums and Wiki. It's hard to convey just how critical this kind of maintenance is, but we couldn't keep the CIC going without all of Kris' technical expertise in this

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Here's another slate of fantastic ships (and more!). These originated the Wing Commander Movie's conceptual style book. It was sent out to merchandisers potentially developing WCM-related products. We've pulled out a few of these images here and there over the years, but here's the full book!

Summary and background:

"Good Guys" cast:

Patches, weapons and Pilgrim Cross:

Kilrathi armor, bodies and equipment:

The Rapier (model and sketch):

The Diligent (model and sketch):

The Broadsword (model and sketch):

The Tiger Claw (model and sketch) and missile sketch:

The Dralthi (model and sketch):

The Snakeir (model and sketch):

Ship identification chart:

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Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Form up, Wing Commander fans! Tonight we're taking a look at some spaceships that never were: the ones that were being built for Privateer 3 when it was cancelled in 1998. Thanks to years of game archaeology, we know quite a bit about them!

The CRUSADER (sometimes called FURY) was shaping up to be the big hero ship, equivalent to the Centurion:

Here's a shot of the Crusader in the game engine (a development of Prophecy's Vision technology):

The Crusader is actually 'canon' since EA reused its artwork for a recruiting ad in Star*Soldier. The concept artist, Ruben Garza, also submitted it to an art book called Spectrum 6 where it was printed as "Privateer--Black Star". (Available on Amazon!)

I should also mention the origin of the name! Privateer 3 was being developed by Origin's Loose Cannon team which had previously develoed the Crusader series of games.

Next up we have the VAKTOTH which is slotted here as

Quote from Wing Commander News-Bot

Welcome to the CIC's 23rd Birthday Party! When we opened our doors here at WCNews.com in August 1998, we never imagined we'd still be here now. The pandemic still looms and did directly affect a few items we had planned. This has not been the year of recovery that we'd envisioned, but I'm happy that we managed to still pull together a few fun things to share. Like you all, we're still making the best of it and having a blast hanging out (digitally, per social distancing guidelines) with friends. If you're not already there, stop by Wingnut and join the party!

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To the Wing Commander Combat Information Center's 23rd birthday celebration! TONIGHT at 7:00 PM Eastern US (4:00 PM Pacific and 11:00 PM GMT) in #Wingnut on Discord!

Featuring...

• Lots of ships that don't exist!
• Some ships that sort of exist!
• Real-life never before seen giveaways!
• The latest and greatest hardware!
• Making the most of our second year in self isolation!
• Trivia - from Ayer's Rock to Zarmaks!
• Cake... and more!

So point your browser to Discord, channel #WingNut! You can stop by any time to join the fun!

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Just in time for our big celebration this Saturday, GOG.com has kicked off a new games festival that includes discounts on the entire Wing Commander series! At $1.49 per game, it's under $12 for the entire DOS and Windows lineup! That's 75% off their already decent pricing structure for the series. This extends to the Ultima titles, and don't forget that Underworld 1+2 and the Syndicate games are also free.

Quote from Elite Dangerous Galnet News-Bot

Independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse has announced that the Rewired network will broadcast Kit Fowler's conspiracy-laden show End Times.
Lafosse, notorious for his own sensationalist claims, announced:
"Finally, someone else who sees things as they really are! Kit Fowler's perceptive views match his technical genius. By retransmitting his End Times broadcasts, I'll be helping people resist the narrative conditioning being pumped into our minds by the faceless elite."
Kit Fowler provides specialised engineering services from his workshop in the Capoya system. He has used his show to make many outlandish claims over the years. These include labelling the shadowy figure 'Salvation' an AI construct, accusing Utopia of secretly creating a new species of human, and arguing that the universe's true shape is being concealed by superpower-sponsored holograms.
Lafosse advertised Fowler's